I'm working on my Ph.D. in sociology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. My research centers on the strategies and activities of local and national vegetarian organizations in the U.S. and Canada.

Donna Maurer
Carbondale, Illinois, USA

Author and presenter on vegetarianism and fitness globally, having visited 134 countries. A former professional tennis player. President of Peter Burwash International, the largest tennis management firm in the world. Radio and TV commentator.

Peter Burwash
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

It is great to be here at this International Vegetarian Conference. I am looking forward to meeting a lot of old and new friends and learning a lot of new information about vegetarianism. I hope that this conference will be an important step in continuing the momentum towards a vegetarian world, since vegetarianism is increasingly becoming a societal imperative, because the world can't continue to sustain the tremendous economic and ecological costs of animal-centered diets. Best wishes to everyone.

I am a fiction writer, publisher, vegetarian and animal rights activist. In 1975, I began Micah Publications. In 1985 I founded Jews for Animal Rights and used my publishing company to edit, and publish books on Jewish vegetarianism and animal rights. We now describe Micah Publications as The Source for Jewish Vegetarian Books.

We have published two haggadot for a vegetarian seder. A haggadah is the book Jewish people read at the seder, which is the ritual meal eaten on the Passover nights. Our first vegetarian haggadah is Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb. It is a poetic theology of creation and has been exhibited at Harvard University in an exhibit on food and politics, and is on exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York.

Our second haggadah, Haggadah for the Vegetarian Family is a shorter version of Haggadah For The Liberated Lamb, and somewhat better suited for a family with young children. We receive many questions about what makes these vegetarian haggadot. The answer is complicated. It is embedded in a philosophy about the earth and animals with rituals and language that have been changed to accommodate this view.

Other vegetarian titles we have published is Judaism and Vegetarianism by Richard Schwartz. This book has been described as "the Bible" of the Jewish vegetarian movement.

A third important title is an anthology, Rabbis and Vegetarianism: An Evolving Tradition. Seventeen rabbis from every background discuss why the Jewish people should become vegetarians.

Another title is "A Boy, A Chicken, and The Lion of Judah: How Ari Became A Vegetarian." This is about an eight or nine year old boy who does not like to eat meat, but is afraid to hurt his mother's feelings and tell her this. It has been praised by many reviewers as a sensitive book which both adults and children should read. The book received the "Kind Writers Make Kind Readers Award" from The Fund for Animals as the best book of its kind in 1996.

A Jewish vegetarian cookbook is in the oven, and will be ready by late fall, 1996. Its title, The Jewish Vegetarian Year Cookbook is an important contribution to the development of vegetarianism among Jews.

It will be a vegan cookbook for the holidays.

We also have important booklets on Judaism, Vegetarianism, Animal Issues, Health, and Animal Research, and a calendar for children, called "My Time," which can be can be used in any year.

Finally, there is Judaism and Animal Rights: Classical and Contemporary Responses. This is an anthology of 41 articles by rabbis, doctors, veterinarians, philosophers, and activists on many aspects of the animal issues, and vegetarianism with respect to Judaism. It has received major reviews in important Jewish publications.

Roberta Kalechofsky has authored a collection of articles on all the above issues, called Autobiography of A Revolutionary and has written a philosophical poem, call The Sixth Day of Creation, which indicts vivisection as a major evil in this century.

Roberta Kalechofsky
Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA

This is the second international vegetarian conference at which I've been a speaker. I'm the author of three books on vegetarianism: Famous Vegetarians and Their Favorite Recipes; and Food for the Gods: Vegetarianism in the World's Religions. My field of expertise is the social history of vegetarianism as well as the study of vegetarianism in the world's religions. At this conference I've given four talks: The Life and Times of Percy Shelley; The History of Vegetarianism in the Americas; An Historical Overview of Rawfoodism; and Vegetarianism East and West: How Do Eastern Religions Differ from Western Religions in their attitude towards Vegetarianism.

Rynn BerryHistorian. Author of Famous Vegetarians & Their Favorite Recipes and other books.
Brooklyn, New York, USA